Country Thunder Saskatchewan opened Thursday in Craven amidst hot temperatures and a provincial campaign against human trafficking.The event began with scorching temperatures, as the heat reached 34 degrees Celsius. Melissa Mannett, Quinton Blair, and Gord Bamford played in the beer gardens Thursday evening.Heat earlier in the day prompted a provincial fire ban effective noon Thursday, placed on Crown lands, provincial parks, provincial recreation sites, and the north. As of 8 a.m. Thursday, 73 wildfires burned in the province. To date, Saskatchewan has had 302 wildfires, which is 91 more than the five-year average of 211.Phil Vasser, Tenille Arts, Jackson Dean, and Dallas Smith will take the Ram Stage Friday. On Saturday, Tim & The Glory Boys, Meghan Patrick, Lonestar, Josh Ross, and Nickelback will entertain tens of thousands. On Sunday, Jake Worthington, Shenandoah, Gary Allan, and Luke Combs will close out the show.Fogdog, Detourcountry, Wonderland, Micah Walbum, and Harlequin will play in the beer gardens in coming days. Line Dance Lessons will also be offered. .500 posters, as part of the Government of Saskatchewan's human trafficking campaign, will be featured for the first time at the Craven Country Thunder music festival this weekend to raise awareness about the risk of trafficking and sexual exploitation.Minister Responsible for the Status of Women Office Laura Ross said the music festival was a “crucial opportunity” to raise awareness.“We hope that the posters will resonate with people and assure them that there is help available, and we thank the Country Thunder organization for their partnership in highlighting this important issue.”The most recent phase of the Government of Saskatchewan's 'Face the Issue' social media campaign, which launched in April and ran until June, was shown or played approximately 7.7 million times across Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Spotify. The social media video series targeted 18- to 24-year-olds to raise awareness about the potential red flags of abusive relationships.Campaign videos reached over 370,000 unique. As a result of the campaign, approximately 9,000 individuals also visited the 211 interpersonal violence and abuse web portal to learn more about programs and services for survivors of abuse. The 2024-25 Provincial Budget dedicated $31.7 million to a range of initiatives across government that address prevention of interpersonal violence and exploitation. The human trafficking campaign is funded in part by the federal government, as part of the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, which brings in $20.3 million federal dollars to Saskatchewan programs and services to address interpersonal violence and abuse over the next four years.More information on interpersonal violence and human trafficking is available at sk.211.ca/abuse. Posters from the human trafficking campaign are available to download at Publications Saskatchewan.
